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Student Initiatives at SOS-HGIC

Student Initiatives at SOS-HGIC

A student initiative is an undertaking by one or more students that has lasting positive effects not only on the school community but potentially also on other members of the local community. The student initiative is completely student-run and needs to fulfil the following criteria:

Contribute positively to the student experience

Reach a broad student community

Add value to the wider community

Align with SOS-HGIC’s mission and philosophy and values

The student initiative need to be registered with the Vice Principal

There are currently two student initiatives registered at SOS-HGIC: ILERA and Illustrations.

ILERA

The Ilera Initiative is an event-based student initiative made up of passionate, health conscious young people who aim to create an awareness of the importance of being healthy by utilizing our own indigenous ingredients and resources . Ilera supports the outside community with the help of funds that are raised through the initiation of different health related projects.

The idea for this initiative came up after a conversation the co-founders Annette Amoa and Naasey Arthur had with the our former school counsellor, Dr. Funke Baffour-Awuah concerning her use of under-utilized African ingredients in baking delicious but nonetheless healthy foods.

This sparked the students’ interest in taking this brilliant idea to a larger scale. They decided to undertake a project which was to focus on the sale of nourishing bakery products to raise awareness in the school community whilst raising funds to purchase sport and health-related items for under-privileged individuals outside to improve their well being. The idea then grew into one which incorporated the previous concept with other avenues to emphasize physical and mental fitness.

Other activities of the Ilera initiative include dance aerobics session and a healthy bake sale . All of these were warmly received by the school community. The plan for the future is to organise more bake sales, aerobic sessions and a health forum after the mid-semester break.

Illustrations

Illustrations is a year old inspiration-driven initiative which encourages students to identify areas of need in their community, share it with the team and work collaboratively with volunteers to serve the target community.

This initiative was birthed when the founder, Michelle Cobblah, worked with some children in the SOS Village Ghana for some time as part of her CAS curriculum. While working with the children at the SOS Village Michelle discovered the passion to help children enjoy the endless journey called Education. When teaching the children at the SOS Village; helping them complete their assignments and joining in their fun and excitement, she grew to love children more and more. One thing she realized was how much they loved colours, so by splashing some colours into their artistic assignments, work was done much more willingly. 'On one day at work, I received a hug from a child in the village as a welcome gesture, and having been so touched by the heart-warming action, said to myself, that the love that coexisted between those children and I would have to extend to others in other communities.' said Michelle while speaking to the volunteers for the first project under her initiative.

Currently, two projects have been undertaken under the name of this initiative. The first dealt with enhancing the aesthetics of a nursery school building. The prior concern was to make the learning facility a more beautiful, playful and friendly place where the children could be happier, more comfortable and encouraged to go to school everyday. Furthermore, learning materials such as chalk, stationery, writing and reading books, were donated to improve the teaching and learning process of the nursery students.

The second was a disease-outbreak inspired project. Volunteers agreed to participate in a clean-up project for a school located in Ashaiman, a town known for its poor sanitary conditions. A health talk on cholera by COY Pediatric centre began the three day 'keep the community clean campaign'. The team believed imparting knowledge on the young students about cleanliness would leave a lasting impression on their lives and help them to be more conscious about their lifestyle. This was followed by a dental screening for the students by the SAB Dental Clinic after which students with dental defects were given a free appointment as a form of sponsorship from the dental clinic.

Illustrations is yet to come up with its newest project aiming to help less fortunate children in neighboring countries. It is our sincere hope that together, we who can, will make the difference, no matter how small, in the lives of the innocent children who need it.

'Our target is to reach out to children; our intention is to help less privileged young ones.'